That Totally Chaotic White Lotus Season 3 Finale, Explained

The following story contains spoilers for season 3, episode 8 of The White Lotus, “Amor Fati.”

THERE’S RARELY JUSTICE at the end of a season of The White Lotus. Stuff will happen, for sure—and within that broad descriptor lies most of the chaos that the show is known for—but if you’re looking for a show where the good guys win and the bad guys lose, well, this ain’t it.

That continued to be the case through the duration and, now, conclusion of season 3. Some characters learned a lot about themselves and their surroundings, but at the end of the day, we’re stuck with the same principles The White Lotus has always given us: Money corrupts, and power wins out. The episode, titled “Amor Fati,” finally answered the questions that had been introduced in the very first episode of the season: What are the gunshots all about? Who is the body floating in the water? And is there a particular reason why we opened on Zion of all characters?

All of that was answered, but the season took a long and winding road to get there—and left us wondering to the very final moment who could’ve been killed. There were plenty of candidates along the way: Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs) finally followed through and nearly murder-suicided his whole family with the exception of son Lochlan (Sam Nivola), only for Lochlan to nearly find himself with the same fate. Several characters throughout the season referenced that they felt death could be around the corner—including Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon).

But the foreshadowing that truly won out was between Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Rick (Walton Goggins), reunited in this episode after Rick’s time in Bangkok with Frank (Sam Rockwell) and confrontation with Jim (Scott Glenn). Over breakfast, Chelsea explains the concept of Amor Fati to Rick: “At this point, we’re linked, so if a bad thing happens to you, it happens to me,” she says. “I think we’re gonna be together forever, don’t you?”

He replies, after a moment of contemplating what a delightful person he’s brought into his orbit: “That’s the plan.”

That should have been the sign that these two were in deep, deep trouble, and they were. Rick was hardly a model citizen, but Chelsea was. And this show, again, is not one that rewards the good and punishes the bad; It’s a show that’s all about circumstance, and the kinds of environments you place yourself in.

Who died in The White Lotus season 3?

There were three main character deaths in The White Lotus season 3 finale: Rick, Chelsea, and Jim Hollinger.

When Rick returned to the resort, he was fully at peace, even telling Chelsea that he didn’t kill anyone and that he felt like he moved past it. But after seeing Jim at breakfast—and after Jim insulted Rick’s mother and said he knew his father and he wasn’t missing out on much—Rick was right back where he started. He desperately was looking for Amrita (Shalini Peiris) for a meditation session to calm him down, but she was going off with Zion (Chris Duvernay) and couldn’t help him. As a result, Rick saw Jim and Sritala (Lek Patravadi) taking a photo with Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), and couldn’t contain his rage and anger anymore. Chelsea showed up, and Rick told her to go away, but she kept following; Rick grabbed Jim’s gun (that he threatened him with earlier) from inside his jacket, and shot him point blank in the chest, killing him. Sritala then broke the news that just about everyone saw coming: Jim didn’t kill Rick’s dad, he was Rick’s dad. Whoops!

Rick took out Sritala and Jim’s security detail who were firing at him, but in the crossfire Chelsea was hit; Rick noticed this and was crushed. He picked up her body, and in walking to help, Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) showed up. After a season of build up about whether or not he had the killer instinct, he finally listened to Sritala’s demands, and shot Rick, killing him.

“I want to heal him,” Chelsea said previously, in the show’s seventh episode. “It’s like we’re in this yin and yang battle, and I’m hope and Rick is pain, and eventually, one of us will win.”

Ultimately, that’s how things did play out; When he got back to the hotel, Rick could have just gone with Chelsea’s hope, and moved beyond the experience. Sure, Jim was kicking him out of the hotel, but he would’ve still had his and Chelsea’s life. But he couldn’t get over the pain that had dominated his life, and gave in to his darkest impulse—and it cost both of their lives in the process. The final shot of Rick and Chelsea’s bodies in the water resembles a Yin and Yang symbol.

Here’s how it shook out for everyone else…

The Ratliffs

There was almost even more of a bloodbath at The White Lotus in season 3. After several episodes of homicidal and suicidal ideations, Timothy Ratliff finally decided to actually kill himself and his entire family using the poisonous seeds of the pong pong tree (with the exception of Lochlan, who was the only one of the family who said he could live without money/a job/power). It was a brilliant moment to see the facial expressions from both Ratliff parents when Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) returned from her night at the monastery and explained that, reluctantly, she was basically too spoiled to live like that. Victoria (Parker Posey) was thrilled, and Timothy was heartbroken—because in his sick mind and through his twisted rationale, it meant he now had to take Piper out too.

And so Timothy planned to make poisoned Piña colada’s, using the seeds of the pong pong tree fruit that he chopped in the blender earlier. And he did for everyone, except for Lochlan, who he made drink a Coke. The family were all drinking… and then Tim had second thoughts, smacking the glass out of Saxon’s (Patrick Schwarzenegger) hand. “The coconut milk’s off!” he said.

Feeling left out the next morning (after no one drank enough poisoned cocktail to actually die or even get sick), Lochlan decided to make a shake (without cleaning out the blender?) that Saxon had been teasing him with all season; he immediately got very sick and passed out; Victoria, Piper, and Saxon didn’t even notice him on the ground by the pool. Luckily for Timothy, Lochlan woke up—and claimed, that in his time out, when we saw him struggling underwater, that he saw god. Good for Timothy too, because being charged with murdering your son while on vacation is hardly a good addition to a lengthy list of financial crimes.

Perhaps the Ratliff family who underwent the most change over the course of the season, though, was Saxon. Saxon arrived horny and cracking lewd jokes nonstop, and he left reading books about spirituality and seeming to really have assessed what he wants and appreciates in life. Chelsea might be gone, and she couldn’t save Rick from himself and his worst vices—but she seems to have changed the course of Saxon’s life forever.

By the end of the trip, Timothy tells the family just before they get back on their phones that things are about to change. He kind of has to, considering his financial crimes are seemingly major business news. But it’s kind of a relief to see that it’s that simple—and doesn’t have to involve murder or suicide—to just get out in front of it, pay the piper (no pun intended) and move on afterwards.

What happens after? Well, we may never know. But it seems like Piper has come to terms with who she really is (just in time for her family to not have money anymore), Lochlan has gone through, uh, a lot, and Saxon has kind of had his own rebirth. Victoria? Well, who knows with her. But Mike White has an idea. “I don’t think Victoria is somebody who can live in poverty,” he said in an HBO after-episode feature. “I’m sure she would find some other solution.”

Belinda, Zion, Greg, and Chloe

Let’s come back to that lasting principal of The White Lotus: There is no justice. If there’s anything to be learned, it’s that you’ve got to look our for #1. And Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) learned that all too well in season 1—don’t trust anyone. And so when she had the chance to cash out with a bribe from Greg (Jon Gries) in order to stay quiet about his connection to Tanya’s (Jennifer Coolidge) death, she… was open to hearing it out, after some initial hesitation. Her son, Zion, a “business major” decided to help her negotiate to get more money so she could actually open a business. And after some hardball tactics, they pulled it off—Belinda landed $5 million in her account, and agreed to keep quiet about Greg’s sinister actions.

Belinda, in turn, mirrors Tanya in the first season: She leaves Thailand early, and, much to Pornchai’s (Dom Hetrakul) disappointment, tells him that her circumstances have changed and they won’t be going into business together anymore. Sad stuff! But Belinda at this point knows better than to involve anyone else in her own situation. She and Zion ride off into the sunset with their newfound wealth, while Greg is able to rule over his kingdom of debauchery in Thailand; Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) seems to have found someone who will let him watch as they have sex, too. Not sure we’re supposed to be rooting for Greg, but, again—it’s The White Lotus. Evil wins out, and he’s got it more than anyone. If Jon Gries keeps appearing in every season, sooner or later, we have to assume, he’ll wind up one of those bodies floating in a body of water.

Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie

After their issues came to the surface in previous weeks, the finale kind of marked the calm after the storm for the trio of friends, Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb), and Laurie (Carrie Coon). Laurie left the previous night, if you may recall, and went to the fight with Valentin’s friend Aleksei, who she then slept with and who then tried to scam her out of $10,000; she escaped his apartment through a window.

At their final dinner, Laurie opened up, delivering a monologue about how she’s been sad all week because she doesn’t have what Kate and Jaclyn have, but only eventually realizing that it’s the presence of those friends that has ultimately become her most valuable belief system in life (after work, and family, she says, didn’t work out how she planned).

As always (and as anyone who’s seen The Leftovers could’ve predicted), Carrie Coon absolutely crushes the monologue and very likely put herself in pole position to win the Emmy; She also gives Laurie her most empathetic moment of the season, and gives the moment that once again bonds these three friends after all their bickering and arguing the last couple weeks.

Granted, we next see them meeting with Sritala and Jim—they had requested a photo with Jaclyn, because they like her TV show—and we know how that encounter turned out. The three ladies booked it out of there as soon as the bullets started firing. Hilariously, watching the way the three ladies ran away is a perfect encapsulation of their characters: Laurie sprints out without looking, Kate does a little gallop in place before realizing what’s happening, and Jaclyn keeps looking back to see what happens and make sure she’s not missing anything.

There’s no more dialogue from the three women after this moment. But we can see in the closing scene of the season that while they’ve clearly lived through a traumatic event, it’s only bonded them closer. Despite their occasional petty annoyances with each other, there’s a belief system and a lifeline that they all will always share in one another through their bond and friendship.

Gaitok and Mook, Valentin and Friends

Gaitok had a breakthrough last episode: He realized that Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) and his friends were responsible for the burglary at the White Lotus boutique earlier in the season. And while he would do anything to impress Mook (Lalisa Manobal), he has started more and more to think that this life is not for him. Valentin realized that Gaitok knew what had happened, and so he appeals to his emotions: If Valentin gets exposed, he says, he’ll get deported back to Russia, where he and his friends can’t get a job and would likely get killed. Gaitok is left not knowing what to do.

He continues to not know what to do until he hears the gunshots fired (Rick’s) and jumps to action. He arrives on time for Sritala to yell at him to shoot and kill a now-unarmed Rick, holding Chelsea’s body—and so he does, killing him. After a season of build-up, Gaitok has become the killer that everyone around him wanted him to be.

Looking forward, Gaitok has gotten the promotion—and Mook’s affection (she was not interested in him when he hinted that he was considering leaving his job). Valentin and his buddies, meanwhile, are living their same life—petty crime and partying. That’s how it goes in The White Lotus.